An American in Leeds

Two days before doing the Yorkshire Three Peaks Walk, I did a 12 mile hike around Manchester, because I needed to do a blister check on my new hiking boots. And because I am crazy. I started in the city, at Piccadilly Station: Walked along the Ashton Canal, which is lined with decrepit cotton mills But didn't stop for fish n' chips Continued through Philips Park, then rambled around the woods for a while. Saw some interesting grafitti : According to the guidebook I was using, at the top of this ridge I was supposed to see some "impressive views". What I saw was power lines (aka pylons) and a factory: An overgrown canal Park Bridge, a former iron works turned into a, well, park: A stile It had rained a lot the week previous, so many times I felt like Elizabeth Bennett. My petticoats may not have been 6 inches deep in mud, but my pants certainly were. Hartshead Pike, 247 meters above sea level: The structure was built in the Victorian era, but the site has been used a...

Ribblehead Viaduct, from Whernside I AM NEVER DOING THIS AGAIN. Okay, that's out of my system. The Three Peaks Walk in Yorkshire is a total of 25 miles. It involves ascending, then descending three separate peaks in the Dales: Pen-y-Ghent, Whernside, and Ingleborough. Pen-y-Ghent is 2276 feet above sea level, Whernside 2415 feet, and Ingleborough 2372 feet. It's a point of pride to finish the walk in under 12 hours. I did it in 11 hours, 53 minutes. It was a tough walk. I'm glad I did it, but I really doubt I'll do it again. I think I'll stick to walks under 15 miles from now on. More pictures here . There are pictures there from my Manchester city walk as well. Another post for another day.

There was a male duck convention outside my apartment this morning: Quack, quack, quack. They were worked up about something. Maybe they were talking about how it's possible for insurance companies to track you via your cell phone , and then change how much they charge you for your policy. Here's a thought: if you think you're going somewhere the insurance company will think is dodgy, leave your cell phone home. Or have your really healthy friend take it with him/ her to the gym all the time. Note: I think it's wrong that an insurance company would track someone, and then make judgments based on that tracking. Right to privacy is a HUGE issue for me. I'm saying that it would be fairly easy to fool the insurance company, and therefore tracking would be silly. Or maybe the ducks were discussing the Eurovision contest . My only impression of the Eurovision contest was formed from watching reruns of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" as a teenager. Which means my impr...

My friend Kelly came to visit last week. We headed to London for a few days, and I got to play tourist. It was nice to stop pretending like I actually knew how to live here, and just be a dumb American for a little while. Look kids! It's Big Ben! The World's Largest Originally Temporary Ferris Wheel. Giant robot outside a store called "Cyberdog". The outside of the store was more interesting than the inside, which looked like all it sold was t-shirts and loud music. Victorian tiled wall chronicling the gruesome ways people died saving other people. This wall was featured in the movie "Closer". I don't recommend the movie, every character is a total ass and unlikeable, but the wall is fantastic. Gravestones. No idea where they're from, or if anyone is buried underneath them. Police box for the Doctor Who fans among us. Yet more evidence that I am stuck in an episode of Doctor Who. A piece of the Roman Wall, which surrounded the original London settlem...

Today I popped my castle cherry. My friends Pete and Lisa took me to Knaresborough Castle. Knaresborough Castle was built around 1100. It was ordered to be dismantled in 1648, after the English Civil War. The River Nidd runs through Knaresborough. The whole town feels Medieveal, with houses crammed together at strange angles, and narrow, winding streets. The White Rose of Yorkshire. This is House of York territory here. Where did that second e go? Sadness.

An inexplicable use of ellipses, which has nothing to do with the rest of this post. I've recently launched myself into the dating pool here in Leeds. It's turned into more of a social observation experiment, instead of actually dating. This seems to be one of those instances where social cues are waaaay different between the US and England. When I first arrived in Leeds, the only men that would flirt with me were the taken ones. This really confused me because, in my experience, men typically only flirt when they have intentions. If they don't have intentions, they usually make it clear that it is just in fun. The intention of the flirting I encountered wasn't clear, and therefore I was wicked confused as to what was going on. This phenomenon I encountered is what Kate Fox calls "courtesy flirting" in her book Watching the English . It's apparently done out of politeness, but can be "confusing for Americans, who mistake it for the real thing". ...

Long time, no see. March was a bit of a nutty month, between a trip to the States for Lunacon, spraining my knee, the potential of being evicted, having the flu, and going to a conference for work. No trip home is complete without beer and waffles at the Abbey. Going home was good for my mental health. It was so nice to reconnect with people, and remind myself that, despite living 3200 miles away, they are still my friends. I had been feeling recently that I had given up so much to move to England. This trip reminded me that in reality, I have gained so much. Distance does make the heart grow fonder. Carl wants malt liquor! Inside joke! How I've missed you. Lunacon was fun as well. Geeks galore! I was on several panels, including three science ones: Health in Space, Alien Biology, and The Year in Science. The Year in Science was my shining moment, when I spouted off about viruses. Because viruses are cool. Sometimes at the beginning of the month, I sprained my knee. Probably doing ...